Fairy Tale vs War Story

Fairy tales start "Once upon a time..."

War stories start "No kidding there I was, thought I was going to die..."

So here goes... No kidding there I was, passing 20,000ft in a stable T-6 spin (see video below). I just started the spin recovery technique when I get a red OIL PX light signaling me of an impending engine malfunction. Not a good thing when your staring straight down at the earth spinning and descending extremely rapidly! My IP and I recovered from the spin immediately turning towards Columbus AFB, climbing to get as much altitude as possible (now we're at about 16,500) and starting a clean glide towards home.

We got on the radio and announced we were an emergency aircraft with an engine malfunction and were planning on a precautionary emergency landing at Columbus AFB. On the glide back my IP was flying while I dug out the emergency checklist to make sure we did everything by the book. As we glided back to Columbus careful not to use any engine power, Columbus Approach and RSU cleared the way of any aircraft as not to exacerbate the situation with a mid-air collision.

We made a clean glide back to Columbus AFB without using any power other than to pull the power to full idle as we crossed the approach end of the runway. As we taxied clear of the runway the fire department was there to meet us in case the aircraft caught fire on landing. We quickly got out of our broken T-6 Texan II and let maintenance know exactly when, where, and what we were doing when we had the engine malfunction. Coming from aircraft maintenance, having an accurate pilot report saves a TON of time troubleshooting and fixing the malfunction.

Well, I made it back safe and sound as you can tell. I'm home now and can't wait to fly again on Monday!

Oh yea, Dana just reminded me to add that this was the second in flight malfunction of the day. Earlier that same fight I had DUCT over TEMP light. My environmental controls system was overheating (+300F) while on the way to the MOA (military operation area) practice area. Not as big of a deal as an in-flight engine malfunction but still a system malfunction in flight.

So, no kidding there I was...